After showing why she was the front-runner to win "Dancing With the Stars" from the beginning, on Tuesday night Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, along with her partner Derek Hough, took home the mirror-ball trophy. And even though it seemed like she would win from the start, Scherzinger admitted that the victory still doesn't feel real.

"I was genuinely surprised," the "DWTS" champ said Wednesday (May 26) on "Good Morning America," just hours after she won. "I had the most amazing people I was up against. It was so awesome; it's still surreal."

Partner Hough said that he, however, always felt the pair could go all the way. "We felt the energy from the first week," said the dancer, who also won the show's seventh season, with Brooke Burke. "There was something amazing about it. ... It truly was a phenomenal season."

In an interview with USA Today, Scherzinger said that during the competition she learned to be less hard on herself. "I still can't believe it," the dancer said about the victory. "It's slowly sinking in."

For the finale, she said, she "decided to let it all hang out." She noted that being on the show has made her "a stronger person," adding, "I've learned I can't control everything. I've learned to let go. It's been enlightening."

She knew that she had a good chance of winning after she scored high on Tuesday night. "After the tango, Derek and I started crying backstage," she said. "It felt so good, and we knew we were going to be OK."

Scherzinger says she has Prince to thank for convincing her to go on the show that finally taught her not to be so type A all the time. "It's not good being a perfectionist," she said, summing up what she learned during her time on the competition.